Index Archive

23 December 2016

Explained Birla, Sahara Diary Income Tax Papers and Modi There is a difference between Diary entries and a document created, copied and saved in the computer. Using Forensic one can easily find the truth about computer documents and emails. At what time, it was created, who used that computer, who operated that computer, how many emails were sent and many more things one can find.

Now Rahul Gandhi has opened a serious fight against BJP and PM Narendra Modi and he showed the income tax documents, government documents, papers.Congress VC RG in his speech he asked the few questions to PM Narendra Modi Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi Wednesday alleged that Sahara paid Rs 40 crore to Narendra Modi before he became prime minister. “Per Sahara group diary entries, Narendra Modi was paid nine times in a period of six months,” Rahul Gandhi said in a direct attack on PM. Rahul said that these records are with I-T department for last two and half years yet no action has been taken. “As per record with the I-T department, Rs 2.5 crore was given to Modi on 30 October 2013, Rs 5 crore on 12 November 2013, Rs 2.5 crore on 27 November 2013, Rs 5 crore on 29 November 2013,”“Entries shows that Rs 5 crore was given to Modi on 6 December 2013, Rs 5 crore on 19 Dec 2013, Rs 5 crore on 13 January 2014, Rs 5 crore on 28 January 2014 and Rs 5 crore on 22 February 2014,”

Exactly what is mentioned in the income tax papers, exactly what happened who did what did?

Aditya Birla Group Case

1-In 2013, there was a CBI raid on the Aditya Birla Group of companies, Hindalco, in connection with the Coalgate scam. In that raid, apart from recovering Rs 25 crores in cash, the CBI also recovered some information stored in the computer of the CEO of the Birla group – Amitabh. Several documents were recovered – some of them showed bribes being paid to some Environment Project J, which is obviously to the ministry or to the minister of environment.around the same time the Birla group of companies was trying to secure environmental clearances from the ministry of environment for a large number of their projects. So, those clearly represented bribes paid for getting the environmental clearances.

2-There was another set of documents which was recovered from the computer of Shubhendu Amitabh, which said, “Gujarat CM – Rs 25 crores. 12 paid. 13?”

Unfortunately, though these documents showed payment of bribes and therefore, offences under Prevention of Corruption Act, the CBI did not register any FIR on this matter but just passed the papers on to the income tax (IT) department.

3-Income tax department did a somewhat detailed investigation into the matter. They questioned Amitabh many times in which he admitted that he had written, “Gujarat CM – Rs 25 crores. 12 paid. 13?” But he said that “Gujarat CM” meant Gujarat Alkalis and Chemicals. When asked what the C and M stood for he was unable to answer and the IT department concluded that he was lying.

4-Income tax department also found that there was a large amount of cash which was being received through Hawala by the Birla group and was apparently being paid to various people. But despite this the IT department did not refer the matter back to the CBI for investigation of these ostensible offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the matter was sought to be buried at that level. After that we understand that the Birla group has approached the IT settlement commission for settling the matter and the hearings have been concluded; the matter is likely to be settled after which there is this apprehension that the papers seized in the raids will be returned back to the Birla group.

Sahara Case –

1-The Sahara raid took place on November 22, 2014. In this raid Rs 137 crores of cash was seized from their offices in Noida, from the corporate office of the chairman, and a large number of documents, some loose sheets, computer data from his personal staff were seized, which showed details of proposed as well as actual payments made to various senior political figures.

2-One of the documents which was seized – a printout of a detailed spreadsheet – in which the first three columns represent the cash the Sahara group received on different dates from different sources and the total comes to Rs 115 crores. Thereafter, this document also represents cash payments to different people on different dates and the places where the payment has been made, and the persons who have taken the payment are also mentioned. It is signed by the IT officer, two witnesses and one of the Sahara officials. Several such documents were recovered in this raid.

3-There was another one which was partly overlapping with minute differences. For example, in the previous one the payments which were referred to as, “cash given at Ahmedabad, Modiji”, in other documents they are referred to as, “cash given to CM Gujarat”. There are Rs 40 crores given at Ahmedabad to Modiji, Rs 10 crores given to CM of Madhya Pradesh, Rs 4 crores to CM of Chhattisgarh, Rs 1 crore to CM of Delhi which at that time was Ms Sheila Dikshit. These are all payments made between 2013 and March 2014.

4-Despite recovery of such incriminating documents and in such detail which showed pay-offs made to various senior political figures, the IT department did not refer this matter to the CBI for investigation under the Prevention of Corruption ActThey apparently prepared some appraisal report which does not deal with these papers and the pay-offs, and these documents were buried.

5-The person who was responsible for burying the documents of both Birla and Sahara was K. V. Chowdary, who was heading the IT investigations at the time and thereafter was appointed, apparently as a reward, as the chief of central vigilance commissioner of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). It was the first time a revenue officer was appointed although there were a number of complaints against him; his name appeared several times in the entry register of the infamous former CBI director, Ranjit Sinha, who was involved in interfering with the income tax assessment of Ponty Chadha. He was also involved in the stock guru scam which is apparently still under investigation. Despite that, Chowdary was still appointed.

6-The other names mentioned in Sahara ListThere’s Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Delhi CM at the time, Sheila Dikshit, Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh and the Gujarat CM at the time, Mr. Modi. Mr. Modi is also personally mentioned as Modiji. Largest payments are made to him in the Sahara diaries, more than Rs 40 crores. One other politician which is mentioned prominently is Shaina NC of the BJP and one of the documents says that she was being asked to intercede with the advocate general of Maharashtra for withdrawal of some case which was pending against Sahara. Perhaps the Sebi case (which was mentioned as the Bombay case in the papers).

7-Investigation in this case was easily possible because the people who are the carriers of the money are mentioned. The IT department had found out that they were employees in the personal staff of the chairman. Uday Sawant, Jaiswal and so on who were mentioned, they were all identified. The telephone and mobile numbers they were using had also been identified. It was easy to find out whether these people who are mentioned as being the carriers of the payment were indeed at those places where the payments are shown to have been made. That could have been easily investigated and then these people ought to have been questioned. They would have to explain what they did with the cash which has been shown as received.

8-Sahara Payments –some of the Sahara papers seem to suggest that these were general kind of payments being made to influential people in order to keep them happy. Perhaps close to the elections, as political donations. But in any case, many of these people were senior public servants. Sahara certainly had operations in all these states – Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi – one would have to investigate if there was any sort of quid pro quo or they were just political or black money donations which have not been shown by politicians or in their party returns. The Sahara papers also mention payment of Rs 15 crores to the BJP office, and all this happens at the time when Mr. Modi had taken over as the [prime ministerial candidate] of the BJP.